By ROBERT JUMPER
Tutiyi (Snowbird) and Clyde, N.C.
“Call me a joker, call me a fool. Right at the moment, I’m totally cool. Clear as a crystal, sharp as a knife. I feel like I’m in the prime of my life. Sometimes it feels like I’m going too fast. I don’t know how long this feeling will last. Too high or too low, there ain’t no in-betweens. And if I stand or I fall, it’s all or nothing at all. I don’t know why I go to extremes.”
Billy Joel wrote those words in 1989. He had a tumultuous life, and he was writing at a time when he was acknowledging something in his own character, a tendency to rush in and stake everything on his beliefs. Much of his belief was based on his feelings rather than fact or reality. You see that philosophy on display throughout history, “I don’t know why, except that I want it my way.”
You see the same mentality exhibited in the iconic quote from Rear Admiral David Farragut, “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” He uttered his famous command after the USS Tecumseh, part of a Union invasion fleet, was blown up by a Confederate mine (back then called a torpedo). The Tecumseh was the biggest and most advanced ship in his fleet, and the sinking of her and the loss of the 114-man crew had put fear into the rest of his command. Farragut could be said to have gone against logic by issuing the command to go full speed ahead despite the dangers clearly in front of them. Fortunately for Farragut, his fleet successfully captured Mobile Bay in August 1864. If you care to read the story, the full history resides at the U.S. Naval Institute website.
Another federal commander didn’t fare as well when he used the same mentality and seriously underestimated Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne warriors at a place known as Greasy Grass (also known as the Little Bighorn) in what is now Montana. Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer had, until his confrontation with Chief Sitting Bull and Chief Crazy Horse at the Battle of the Little Bighorn, been a decorated war hero and was considered an expert strategist. But he was also known for charging headlong into anything he attempted. This time, he did so at the cost of his entire company of 200 men, which included Custer’s two brothers, his brother-in-law, and a nephew. (history.com)
If you go to the United States Federal Register website, www.federalregister.gov, and you look up “Indian Entities Recognized by and Eligible To Receive Services From the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs,” you will find a listing of the 574 Tribal entities that the U.S. government deems federally recognized, or acknowledged. So, logically (and legally), if you don’t see an entity’s name on that list, they are not a tribe in the eyes of the federal government. The list is part of the national archives of the U.S. government. It’s not something made by tribes or entities.
The federal government has struggled in its roles of negotiation and reparation for the damage done in previous generations through war and failed assimilation strategies. And the things done to tribes were extreme, from smallpox-laced blankets to forced (not voluntary) death marches to torture to remove language, culture, and history to “integrate” Indians into “mainstream” society. Native spirituality and culture were considered heathen and therefore in need of exorcism. Even though before contact, tribes had some of the most advanced indigenous communities anywhere on the planet, the Europeans deemed us unintelligent savages for not conforming to their way of life.
Here is a fact that I see in the whole mess of federal government origin regarding the recognition or acknowledgement of indigenous tribes. It wasn’t until 1978 that the federal government established the Office of Federal Recognition (later to be renamed the Office of Federal Acknowledgement). So, I guess you could say that the tribes previously recognized by Congress had “grandfathered” recognition because the assessment process did not exist before 1978. The federal government (that would include the Congress), as I see it, put the OFA in place to maintain fairness in the selection of tribes, using a standard to determine the validity of claims to be indigenous tribes in the United States. It would seem to me that once the government legislated and executed that process, the options of Congressional or Judicial recognition would be used for appellant purposes. In other words, a presumed tribe would go through the OFA process, and if it failed to get recognition, would then appeal to Congress and/or the Court.
There is an old saying that returning good for good is easy. Good is always good. The real challenge is returning good for bad. When we are treated with disrespect or harm, the right and most beneficial way is to take the high road. Somehow, though, it just feels so much better in the moment to return bad for bad. I have participated in a few public debates in my time, and I will tell you a secret about successful arguments. It is simply difficult to win an argument when the factual evidence is on a particular side. It won’t matter how passionate or dramatic one gets; if the side that has the facts in their favor successfully articulates those facts, it is only a matter of time before the other side concedes or is determined to be in the wrong. No beating heads against a wall will change facts. And that side usually knows when they are defeated, because they will become primal in their responses and attacks, calling names and making threats. This can happen at any time during a debate. Sometimes it is after one side realizes that the other has the facts on their side, deep into a debate. Sometimes, realization occurs before the debate even starts. But when the opponent who has depended on false information, emotion, or drama to make their case realizes that it is a lost cause, they will either fall silent or go into a tirade.
Those who love Indian tribes should be passionate about protecting the integrity of their culture and history. Our race and our culture should never be allowed to be made a source of political gamesmanship, particularly for or by the federal government or individual senators looking for political or monetary gain. Federally acknowledged tribes should not be political pawns, even if the leadership of the United States and the legislators of North Carolina think that is okay. It is disrespectful, disingenuous, and disgusting to the Native peoples of America. Acknowledgement should be politically arbitrary.
The federal government, if they are intent on acknowledging tribes, should let the experts speak for themselves. The Congress should appoint a commission, a tribunal if you will, made up of the leaders of federally recognized tribes. Let petitioning groups seek certification through that tribunal before they are considered for recognition. Who is better to identify a brother than the family they seek to be a part of? Barring that process, the Office of Federal Acknowledgement determination is the next best, least politicized approach.
If the United States government leaves federal recognition in the hands of politically, financially motivated people like a certain senator from Oklahoma, the dissolution of federal recognition is indeed close at hand. Like blood quantum determination, it will be the ultimate tool for assimilation. And one must ask oneself, is recognition worth jeopardizing the 574 existing tribes (roughly 1.9 million tribal members)?
